Chris Marchand
Chris Marchand is a competitor in the Midwest Combat Chess League, currently signed to The Templars. History 2009 Chris joined the MCCL in 2009. While his performance at "The Crucible" wasn't enough to generate any direct offers for team membership, The Cavaliers selected him in the 7th round of the player draft. The main draw for Chris at the time was his unarmed skills, holding a 2nd Degree Black Belt in World Taekwondo Federation style Taekwondo, this stood in stark contrast to the prevailing MMA/Kickboxing style of most of the MCCL fighters. It paid off for Chris, winning 3 of his 4 unarmed fights that year, including a 6 second knockout of Adrian McCarthy. Despite his excellent record with Unarmed fights, he finished the season with a 3-4 record. 2010 Having failed to impress in 2009, Chris again received no direct offers from any of the teams. The Cavaliers selected him in the draft again, however in the 11th round. On advice from then King Rick Mitchell, Chris began focusing on developing greater proficiency with heavy bladed weapons as he seemed to struggle with single sword and rapier styles that previous King Dennis Jones had wanted him to focus on. This would pay off well, with Chris ending the regular season with an 8-5 record. 2011 His good showing in 2010 garnered Chris a 5th round selection by The Celts in the 2011 draft. Chris proved to be an asset to the Celts roster as more than just a competitor, having developed a talent for discerning good matchups for fighters. As the season went on King Brady Huffman was often seen looking to Chris for advice on fight choices. Chris finished the 2011 regular season with a 7-4 record. 2012 Marchand began the year on The Templars, but injured his ankle in the second match of the season, and was traded mid-season while still on the disabled list to The Corsairs. Corsairs king Max Savage wanted his assistance as a coach, given Marchand's greater experience with heavier weapons, and had a common ground with Chris given their mutual background in Tae Kwon Do. As his injury healed, he saw increased play on the board throughout the season, accruing a regular season record of 6-5. Marchand saw play in the championship game against The Legion, defeating Jesse Richards in a sword and shield bout and subsequently falling to Dave Schneider in a rapier and dagger contest. 2013 The Corsairs would bring Marchand back to their roster as a coach for the 2013 season. A day prior to their second match of the season, The Corsairs' King Max Savage would depart the team for The Dragons. The Corsair's front office decided that Marchand would succeed Savage as King. Marchand's stragety as King was unorthadox, often never putting players in the same board position from week to week but instead putting them where he believed their fighting talents would be but to the best use based on how he and the opponent King tended to play chess. This stragety would prove successful, as Marchand would lead the Corsairs not only to the 2013 Championship Match, but to a second consecutive Championship Title with a win over King Daniel Sbriglio and The Dragons. 2014 Following the 2014 draft, Marchand was sacked as King by The Corsairs. His strategy of shuffling player positions created a nightmare in the Front Office staff as players in the MCCL are often contracted to play certain positions. Many believe his strategy was a "One Trick Pony" and could not be successful a second time. In addition to releasing Marchand, a Non-Compete clause in his contract with The Corsairs was enforced, preventing him from competing for the entire 2014 Season. Many returning veterans from the 2013 Corsairs team would refuse to join the team for 2014 as a result. Marchand was offered a Front Office Coaching position by The Dragons for the 2014 season, paving the way for some of his former team mates (Meredith Larson, Phil Henry, and Skot Rieffer) to follow him and join The Dragons Roster. 2015 Marchand received a direct offer from former Corsairs teammate Rachel Bigelow to rejoin The Templars for 2015. He accepted under one condition, that he not have any kind of leadership role on the team as he wanted time to focus on his fighting skills during training. Marchand became one of Bigelow's cornerstone players, even more so following Queen Sabreena Candreva's season ending injury in week 4. This increased play time, combined with his focus on improving his fighting techniques led to his best personal record in his career, 9-2. Marchand saw action in the 2015 Chapionship against The Celts Luis Rosa and Ashley Hovel. Marchand won both contests. 2016 Marchand received an offer to return to The Templars for the 2016 Season, and was voted in to the Pre-Season 2016 All-Star Game. Fighting Style Chris holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt in World Taekwondo Federation style Taekwondo. As is the trademark of this style, when fighting unarmed Chris relies heavily on kicking techniques. Chris generally avoids grappling with opponents, but when forced to he relies Hapkido style techniques for grappling. Chris has established himself as one of the preeminent wielders of Heavy Bladed weapons, specifically the Longsword, in the MCCL. He'll often choose to pair the Bastard Sword and Broad Sword with a Heavy Shield as opposed to a Buckler. His single loss with a Heavy Blade coming from a 2010 Broadsword and Buckler contest against Mike Lubke. Going by Chris' win/loss record, his weakest weapons are the Small Sword and Quarterstaff, having thus far failed to win a single contest with either weapon in his 8 years in the MCCL. Category:Fighters